In 2011, Canada's women finished dead last in the World Cup, much to the chagrin of its supporters who dreamt of winning the entire tournament. Now that the World Cup is being played on Canadian soil, there really is no excuse not to succeed. First up though, is a sneaky tough match against China in Edmonton.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Hosts of pretty much any major soccer tournament have a huge advantage, knowing that they start off the proceedings at home with all of the hype that comes with having that tournament on their home turf. Generally speaking, the oddsmakers respond and make the host nation a heavy favorite in that opening game.
Canada is a big favorite, but there would have been better teams to draw against than China in the opener. The Canadians are -1 on the Asian handicap, and they are -200 odds-on favorites to take the crucial opening three points, but the possibility of less is certainly there.
The total is low at 2 (under -125).
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Ahead of the 2011 World Cup, we were playing club teams and teams like Switzerland – teams that weren't close to qualifying for the World Cup. So Canada got to Germany and played top teams and got dominated because they hadn't played anyone." – Former Canadian national player Kara Lang on why the Canada performed poorly in Germany in 2011
RECENT FORM
History will tell you that Canada should be in good shape in this tournament. The team was the runner-up in the Cyprus Cup earlier this year to England, but that loss was avenged in Hamilton last week in a friendly fixture, the last tune-up for both teams before the World Cup. The Canadians also lost 1-0 to France in April.
Things haven't been good for China heading into the World Cup. The team was beaten by the same England side in Manchester in April 2-1, and that came on the heels of a poor Algarve Cup in which the Chinese were held to two draws and two losses. In fact, China hasn't won a match since December, a 6-0 drubbing of Argentina, as it is 0-4-5 since that point.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Chinese are definitely introducing a youth movement here at the World Cup after not qualifying for the 2011 World Cup. Many who have been a part of the failures in recent months aren't going to be a part of this squad, and that makes this nation one of tremendous mystery here in Group A.
The average age of the Chinese women heading to Canada is just under 23.
Still, trying to stop Christine Sinclair for Canada is going to be nearly impossible. This is a woman who is a legitimate national icon in her country, knowing that she has scored 153 goals in her illustrious career at the age of just 31.
China is going to park the proverbial bus in its own half and hope for the best, but we don't see it all panning out all that well. Even a 1-0 defeat though, is something that could be built upon, especially with ladies like Diana Matheson, Kaylyn Kyle, Sophie Schmidt and Brittany Baxter playing in the midfield.
Expect to see a fruitful result for the hosts, though inevitably, a lack of playing competitive matches over the course of the last year and a half might end up proving to be just a little debilitating early on in the proceedings.
Canada 1, China 0
BookMaker has Women's World Cup lines for every match of the season. Canada is lined as a -200 moneyline favorite, while the total is set at 2 (under -125). You can make a futures bet and predict the champion, wager on head-to-head matchups or use BookMaker’s live betting feature to gamble while the match is happening.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The fixture between Canada and China is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. ET at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
